The Senate on Wednesday fell short of advancing the Ratepayer Protection Act, a measure addressing electricity and water costs tied to new data centers. The vote was 57-43, below the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
The House had passed the bill 417-3 two weeks earlier. The Senate proposal, led by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, would set a federal standard and direct state utility regulators to consider making large data-center developers cover infrastructure costs. Four Democrats — Maggie Hassan, Amy Klobuchar, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — voted with Republicans. Democrats said the measure lacked enforceable requirements and called it toothless. Separately, senators said Wednesday they had reached a bipartisan permitting agreement that also would require data centers to pay for added electricity use.